A Sandwich a Day: Meatball Parmagiana from Parisi Bakery

In this great city of ours, one could eat a different sandwich every day of the year—so that's what we'll do. Here's A Sandwich a Day, our daily look at sandwiches around New York. Got a sandwich we should check out? Let us know.—The Mgmt.

[Photograph: Robyn Lee]

There are days when nothing less than a meatball parm will do. You may be looking for something warm and filling on a nippy day, or maybe you just have that slightly self-destructive urge to eat a sandwich that could feed a family of four.

For days like this, there's the Meatball Parmagiana ($8) from Parisi Bakery. It's massive, meaty, and my new favorite old school meatball parm hero. I say old school to because mentioning a meatball parm in Little Italy these days immediately invites comparison to the Torrisi rendition, and I don't think it's quite a fair fight—they're working on different sandwich levels.

Let's put it this way. If you want a porky, thoroughly spiced meatball parm, get Torrisi's at Parm. If you're looking for a meatball parm that's as Sunday Gravy classic as can be, with rich, bright sauce that highlights the slight sweetness of beef, this baby is the one for you. It helps that the bread comes right from the bakery; it's crusty and soft in just the right way to absorb some of the sauce and cradle the meatballs. This is pretty damn close to old school New York sandwich perfection.

Parisi Bakery

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As a native of Queens, New York, Max developed an early hunger for dosas, dumplings, and Korean barbecue. Now he explores the city's evolving international food world by day and night. When not slurping noodles over a rickety table, he's in the kitchen tinkering with his ice cream maker on a never-ending quest to develop the best ice cream-making techniques.